My lips twitch. “Mom knows we’re okay,” I whisper.
“What?”
I tell her about our mom’s dream, how she was totally at peace with Liv being gone and knows we’re safe.
“Wow,” she breathes.
I laugh. “No kidding, right?”
“Let me see what you have going on,” Aleida murmurs.
Before I can tell her no, that it’s fine, I’ll just live my life and pretend I’m not magical because I have no desire to go back to Colt anytime soon. She holds up her hands and they start to glow. I close my eyes as warmth fills me.
My back arches forward, my head falls back between my shoulders and my breath comes out in a long moan before everything goes dark around me. In the distance, I hear shouts, but then there is nothingness.
COLT
The Assembly members stare back at me in silence. I’ve removed their gags, but they think that by being silent, they’re somehow winning something over me. They aren’t. I will prevail, I always do.
My stomach twists, but I ignore the pain, knowing that I need to get through this and to the bottom of it. Clearing my throat, I tilt my head to the side as I lean against the front of my desk. The woman narrows her eyes on me, and I know without a doubt that she is the one in charge.
“You thought that you would come here and your band of rebels would take me out and you could control the country yourselves or put someone weaker in power, am I correct?” I ask.
They all silently stare at me, but my lips turn up into a grin. The men are shifting in their seats, the woman sitting tall and firm. Walking past her, I make my way over to one of the men, crouching down in front of his bound body.
“You’re nervous,” I point out. “Why?”
He presses his lips together, shaking his head a couple of times. Leisurely, I take my small knife out of my pocket and flip it open. Lifting my hand, I extend it toward the man’s face. Touching the point of the blade against his cheek, I grin when he starts to tremble.
“Tell me, who do you have in mind to replace me?” I ask on a whisper.
He shakes his head, almost violently. I press the point of the blade a bit deeper into his cheek, watching a bit of blood trickle down, wondering how far he will push this. It’s been a while since I’ve needed to extract information from an enemy, but I have zero qualms about doing so.
“An Assembly member’s son,” the other man cries out.
Turning my head, I am surprised that this other man has spoken out. That is, I’m surprised until I see the way that he is looking at him. They are lovers. Though not something that is widely done here, it is not something that is uncommon, especially with so many men out in this area, away from the city and few women.
“Why?” I demand.
“Convenience. You’re not moving the way that some of the Assembly wishes you to with the railroad. You aren’t taking control of the country with an iron fist the way the Assembly wishes you to. You aren’t controlling the people.”
“I’m allowing them to be, what? Too free?” I ask.
He nods his head up and down several times. Removing the knife, I straighten and look between the three of them.
“The entire Assembly voted for this play?” I ask.
The men look to one another, then over to me, shaking their heads a couple of times. Crossing my arms over my chest, my gaze locks in on the woman across from me. Her lips are pressed together, in a way where I know without a doubt not even torture would split them apart.
“It was not unanimous, only a majority, by one vote.”
“You’ll give me the names?” I ask.
The woman narrows her gaze, then the men look at one another, then to me. “You’ll spare us?”
“Did you vote for or against?” I ask, arching a brow.
Shifting my eyes to them, I flick my gaze between them and watch as their faces pale and their lips part.
They voted for murdering me.
They voted for treason.
They voted for corruption.
They voted for it all without a single care in the world.
I have only been in this position for less than a year and they were quick to get rid of me. What happens to the next, and then the next, and the next?
When does it all end?
Never.
That’s the answer. Just like in war, it will not end until you completely decimate your enemy. In this case, my enemy is domestic. My enemy is scheming and crooked. My enemy is a group of reclusive, secretive people who think they know what is best for an entire country.
Not that I think I know better, but I am not going to kill someone because I don’t think they’re controlling people enough and forcing them to bend to my will. I wouldn’t even kill these people, if they hadn’t already proven they are a liability.
Without a word, I slice the woman’s neck, her blood spraying out all over my entire face and body. The men scream behind her and I turn my head toward Jeremiah. I would have him get the rest of the information and leave the room to get cleaned up, but I can trust no one, not a single person right now.
“Go to my desk, make notes,” I grunt.
He dips his chin, then does as I’ve asked. The two men sing like birds. They give me the names of all the Assembly members, the ones who voted for and against this attack. Then they give me the name of the man that they decided would take over in my place, a man they thought was much easier to control and manipulate.
I
